Bro I was writing this chapter and the whole time it strayed from the anime. But I guess since mc already changed things it's cool, right?
As kabaneri of the iron is a linear anime. I'm trynna follow the anime as much as possible while making slight changes. Until he leaves of course.
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Although would necessarily call himself a narcissist, he wouldn't deny that he loves seeing the sparkle in the eyes of the soldiers present.
They were caught between awe and shock.
Some might blink or stare blankly, mouth open, heartbeat slowing as their body enters a mild freeze response.
Their minds struggled to grasp what their eyes betrayed—a young man standing amid the carnage, unscathed amidst the carnage.
With his back turned and his rapier in hand, he stood straight like royalty with a graceful smile on his face.
Only the sound of train on tracks could be heard.
And as the silence deepened, someone whispered the only word their trembling lips could form.
"Kami-sama…"
They all began having similar thoughts.
Kaelis seeing them dazed, he mentally shook his head. This is like what… the thousandth time he had seen that look.
He dismissed the sword as it dispersed into light particles and turned to face the soldiers slowly turned toward them with deliberate slowness—for dramatic effect, of course.
"Are you all alright?" he asked, voice calm
That prompted them to fall to their knees, thinking they just witnessed an act performed by a god.
And honestly—who could blame them?
The series of actions that just played out was far beyond their understanding.
A few moments ago, the swarm of kabane had threatened to consume them all.
Then, in a single blinding instant, those same monsters were annihilated, reduced to lifeless remnants by one man's hand.
It was all too fast.
And the person who performed such a feat stood before them.
"…"
Still… Kaelis thought, watching them prostrate themselves before him.
This level of reaction is a bit much, don't you think?
Actually—no.
It's perfectly reasonable.
These people were Japanese, from a time when stories about gods and spirits weren't just bedtime tales—they were part of life.
Even now, with steam trains and rifles, that old belief still ran deep.
They grew up hearing about kami who descended from the heavens, warriors blessed by divine power, miracles that saved entire villages.
So when someone like unfamiliar like him who dresses and looks unusual shows up—summoning weapons, moving at blinding speed, cutting down hundreds of kabane in seconds,
Of course they'd assume he was a god.
To them, there wasn't much difference between something divine and something beyond understanding.
The moment they saw him, it all clicked in their heads: this isn't human and definitely not one of those kabaneri either.
They were scared, amazed, relieved—all at once. And honestly, he couldn't even blame them.
If he were in their shoes, maybe he'd think the same thing.
"You should get up now." He told them.
They were still in the middle of a crisis, there was no time for dawdling.
"Kami-sama! M—may I uh, ask a question!?"
"?" Kaelis looked over towards the voice.
One of the soldiers, a young man who seems to be in his early twenties, was gazing at him with hope.
"not right now. Leave it until we're cleared the kabane and inside. We still got more to deal with," he said, pointing behind them.
"Raaagh…"
Everyone froze then, slowly turned to see more kabane clinging to the train's sides, climbing up like bugs.
"Shit…"
There were just as many as before—maybe even more. But this time, instead of panicking, something changed.
They had a god on their side.
With their spirits fired up, the soldiers snapped back into action, taking aim and unloading everything they had.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
He looked at the soldiers firing rapidly. "How are you guys holding up!?" He shouted above the gun shot noise.
"Never been better Kami-sama!!"
"Yea!! We're great!!"
"Leave this to us kami-sama!!"
"Good! Let's end th—"
BOOM!
"What!?"
He was cut off by the sudden explosion coming from the train.
It seemed something terrible happened inside. What happened? Isn't mumei and the others down there?
"What's going on down there?!"
"How the hell should I know!"
"I'll go down and take a look! You guys keep firing! And here…!"
Kaelis then created a simple katana within its sheath and imbued the enhancement attribute [boost] that triples its wielder's physical abilities.
"…catch!"
He threw it at the young man who wanted to ask a question early.
He caught it, drawing curious and envious glances from the surrounding soldiers.
"Ah ah. What am I supposed to do!?"
"Use it!"
That's all Kaelis left him with before jumping on the standing area where one of the train's back entrances was. He'd have to go through each cars to reach
The young soldier looked at the normal katana in his hand wondering why the kami gave him a sword.
But even though he had no clue, he still decided to believe in him.
He immediately unsheathed the sword and it was then he felt a major increase in vitality coursing through his body and he felt noticeably lighter.
It was then he realized what the god had meant for him to do.
Taking position, he lunged forward towards the kabane, surprising the other soldiers as he began dissecting the undead creatures at an alarming rate.
The soldiers began to catch on… they were familiar with the young soldier so they knew his capabilities well enough to realize his strength has increased exponentially.
"He looks… stronger? His aura's different…"
The source of strength though, was all too clear for them to understand.
'It must be Kami's sword!'
As is human nature, jealousy and resentment began to spread through them.
'Why him? He's not even that strong!'
…
Inside the train, a number of soldiers had built a small barricade to prevent some newly transformed kabane from passing them and getting to the passenger area.
The so-called barricades were huge metal shields that were extremely thick and short enough that kabane could climb over them.
And to prevent that, the soul sees have taken to positioning themselves behind them with firearms.
"Fire!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
But it didn't take long before they got overrun.
"Help me! Aahhh—aaaek!!"
"Aaaughh!"
They began to get devoured.
BANG!
The door was pushed open by Kaelis then two beautiful butterfly knives appeared in his hand which he used to quickly dismember the kabanes in sight.
As there were no survivors he headed towards the next car, the sixth car.
Chapter 16 end.